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How to Sell Online Without Being a Jerk

By Christian

Selling online requires one simple thing...SELLING! That means you have to MAKE OFFERS! Making money online is not a mysterious process. The fear of selling is one of the biggest production-killers out there 🙂

I just read a very insightful quote from Jeffrey Zeldman at zeldman.com in the latest INC magazine. I want to share it with you, because selling…and how to do it well…is a common theme I cover here. I think his thoughts on how to sell tactfully are beautiful. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Here you go:

There is a difference between being arrogant about yourself as a person and being confident that your work has some value. The first is unattractive; the second is healthy and natural. Some people respond to the one as if it were the other. Don’t confuse them. Marketing is not bragging, and touting one’s wares is not evil. The baker in the medieval town square must holler ‘fresh rolls’ if he hopes to feed the townfolk.

I’m a huge advocate of selling aggressively and fervently. I think if you don’t believe in what you’re selling, you need to get out of business, period. On the other hand if you DO believe in what you’re doing, you have a duty to tell people about it, and make sure you do good business with as many people as you can.

How do you feel about this?

I personally witness a lot of people visibly hesitating to make the pitch, out of fear of being perceived a salesperson. We need to get past this and realize what sales is, and what it isn’t. I’m telling you…there’s so much confusion and indecision out there about how to build a successful blog, how to build a successful online marketing strategy. Of course, there are some things to learn, and there are definitely some techniques to implement, but if you get past the biggest hurdle of making offers…the rest is honestly a piece of cake 🙂

Seriously, it’s amazing what you can get when you just ask!

Tips on Writing Your About Page

By Christian

On a blog, it’s important to think of every page as a landing page. Every page on your site is an opportunity to convert a visitor or lose them. This is true of your front page, each post and each page on your site. Writing your “About” page is a sticky subject for some bloggers when they first get started, so I wanted to touch on this. Let me know what you think!

Don't think of your "about page" as a place to write a book about yourself. No one cares! Instead, answer the more difficult questions: "Why are you writing this blog?" "Why SHOULD you write this blog?" "Why are you different?"

A Few Tips on Writing Your About Page

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when writing the “about” page on your blog.

  • Your About page is the one page on your blog where you should feel free to talk openly about yourself.
  • Mention a bit about your experience and why you’re qualified to write the content on the blog. More importantly, share honestly why you’re compelled to write this blog. Your readers are looking for a reason to connect with you.
  • Focus on the main problem you can solve for a reader. When visiting an About page, a visitor wants to know about you, but they still only care about what’s in it for them. So, talk about yourself, but keep in mind why a visitor should care. What benefit will they get by being a regular reader?
  • How are you different? What unique value or perspective do you add to the niche you’re covering? It’s rare indeed for you to be covering something that no one else covers. Instead, talk about why you’re different and what you offer that no one else offers.

The About page can be a powerful asset to your blog, or it can also be a great excuse for a reader to take off and never return. How do you feel about your About page? Are you intimidated by it? Do you have any questions about how to optimize it?

Why Unsubscriptions are Good for Business

By Christian

Email unsubscriptions...I'm cool with em!

Pay attention to who unsubscribes from your list and why. One of the many advantages of using a system like Aweber is that it gives people an option to comment on why they’re unsubscribing. This is valuable feedback, but unsubscriptions should not be viewed as a loss.

In fact, they are good for business in every way. Here’s why:

  1. They’re clearly not someone who wants to be on your list, so why should you want them anyway?
  2. Your list shouldn’t be padded with people who aren’t into what you’re doing anyway. Whoever said you need a big list in order for it to be valuable? It’s not true. You don’t need a big list. You need a quality list. Big numbers can be nice. But only if the quality is there.
  3. If the unsubscriber offers feedback, you can use that to improve your business. It’s a win for you either way when someone unsubscribes.

It’s important not to look at losing people as a negative thing. Did you really think 100% of the people would stick around forever? Besides, a lot of the comments you’ll likely get will be like the one I just received. It must have been in response to a sales message I sent out. It went something like this:

“I’m only interested in bloggers who appreciate me for just being a subscriber.”

Ok, then. Clearly the fact that I share new content 2-3 times a week on this site for free isn’t enough. You know, there will always be people who complain no matter what you do. Put up an ad, they will complain. Change your design, they will complain. Do something (god forbid!) to monetize what you’re doing in any way, they will complain.

I remember when Darren Rowse changed the design on Twitip he got a load of comments saying they would unsubscribe because they didn’t like the background he’d selected for his new layout. I laughed out loud when I read those comments. To me it was proof that there is no limit to what some people will choose to complain about. To internalize this is madness. You have to learn all you can from every interaction and realize this stuff is just part of doing business! Make up your mind now that it won’t affect you negatively in the least. It WILL happen. And it’s good for business when it does.

Get Control Over Your Dang Schedule People!

By Christian

crazy insane or insane crazyI had a great discussion the other day with a friend at lunch. It was about the incessant need everyone seems to have to answer their phone. No matter what. If it rings, it simply MUST be answered. Doesn’t matter what’s going on. Doesn’t matter what you’re in the middle of. Do any of you see a problem with this?

  • Are you in the middle of a conversation with someone? Who cares? Must…answer…the…phone.
  • Are you trying to finish an important project, and there’s a rapidly approaching deadline? Who cares? Must…answer…the…phone.
  • Are you sleep deprived and need to get to bed, but a troublesome client is calling you at 11PM? Who cares? Must…answer…the…phone.

Seriously, where does this come from? Let it ring! Better yet…if you’re busy, turn the sucker off. Sanity and productivity are there for the taking. If you’re insane right now, it’s because there’s too much on your plate. Enough said. Is there any other reason? No. It’s the only reason. If you’re too busy, you need to do a better job at picking and choosing.

And the most powerful things that wreck our day are not the big projects that we take on. It’s the little ones. It’s the little “this will take just a second” phone calls, emails, IM’s and such.

What if you only took calls that you were expecting? Can you imagine how much more focused you would be? What if you simply returned all calls at a scheduled time each day? Would it be more productive?

Is your day getting wrecked by tiny little interruptions? Do you realize you have a choice in the matter?

Why I Use a Pop Up Opt In Box to Build My Email List

By Christian

I recently had a reader ask me about the pop up opt in box that I use on Next Level Blogger. He wanted to know how it was working for me and how I felt about using a pop up. He said he personally didn’t like pop ups and felt that it therefore might not be a good idea to use one on his site. I think this is a great concern, so I wanted to share my thoughts on this.

Why I Started Implementing a Pop Up to Build My Email List

I haven’t always used a pop up to build my email list. The reason was the same as what this reader suggested. I personally do not like them. Then a mentor of mine made a really interesting comment to me a few months back. He said he has NEVER clicked on a banner ad in his life. I realized that it is likely true for me too. I cannot remember a single time I’ve ever clicked on an Adsense link or banner ad. But this friend of mine makes bank on banner ads. Obviously, many people DO click on them. Just not me :).

After this conversation I realized that I’m really the last person I should use as a judge when it comes to what I should use on my site. After all, I’m not building it for me. I’m building it for my readers. I’m providing a service for others, not myself. And consequently, I should simply do what works for them!

Fact is, if a pop up opt in box generated a lot of complaints or failed to convert, I wouldn’t use it. So far, I have received ZERO complaints, and the pop up window on Next Level Blogger is the second-highest converting opt in box on the site. Clearly, it’s going to stay up for a while!

I use Aweber to generate the pop up, and I highly recommend using their service as well. It’s super-easy to design and install on your site, and it functions flawlessly for me. Anything that’s not techy and gets great results is always cool in my book 🙂

Lesson for the day: I encourage you to set aside any personal assumptions when it comes to building your online business. Don’t do what you like or think is cool. Do what works. A lot of times it’s the simplest stuff in the world that will make huge results for you.

Top 10 Myths and Mistakes About Blogging and Internet Marketing

By Christian

As more and more of my peers in small business come online and start trying their hand at blogging and internet marketing, there are a number of common myths and mistakes that need to be addressed.

If you’re considering starting a blog or using social media to promote your small business, I applaud you. My goal for this post is to simply dispel some of the biggest lies, misunderstanding and obstacles I’ve come across that you will likely run into.

Hopefully you can use these as a way of saving yourself some time and get straight to the business of making your blog or website reach your goals.

  1. Internet marketing as an afterthought: It’s a great idea to put yourself in your customers’ shoes. For many business models (dare I say nearly ALL business models) a customer’s most common point of interaction with you is your website. Your internet presence should be given a proportional amount of your time and attention. Many businesses ironically spend very little time on internet marketing. They’ll have a site that gets thousands of visitors a month, but they do very little if anything to effectively engage them. Instead, they expect people to call them and wade through an automated phone system in order to get information. You may prefer to do business a certain way, but it’s likely that your customer would prefer your website to be a lot more usable. And it may interest you that if you help them out in this regard, they will likely reward you for it : ) Don’t let your internet marketing be something that you’re just trying to squeeze in. It needs to be as integrated into your business as your customers would like it to be.
  2. Let me just slam this website together. Let’s get this sucker DONE! This is a powerful myth and mistake many people make! Your internet marketing is an ongoing process. Think of it more as a dialog than anything else. When you walk away, the conversation stops. Ideally you want to be as active and engaged in your internet marketing as possible. Trying to crank out a website and then thinking that it’s going to keep pulling results for you without any additional effort is the wrong way of looking at it.
  3. Marketing online is not the same as traditional marketing: Traditional marketing is interruption-based, which means that advertisers have always concentrated on grabbing people’s attention however they can. Getting a response was key. In online marketing, people are already paying attention, so trying to cram a message in front of them is just rude. Cultivating a relationship with your visitors is hugely important. That’s why blogging is something I consider to be pretty much mandatory for most small business owners, because it enables you to communicate with a large number of people very effectively and in a personal manner. Applying traditional marketing methods to your internet marketing most often comes off badly for you. It’s important to embrace the fact that a social approach to your marketing, while it takes more time, really is going to be the best approach.
  4. Failing to build an email list: You want people to come out to your site, correct? And after they visit, you want them to come back. The number one way to get people coming back over and over again is by getting them to subscribe. And the number one way people subscribe is still via email. RSS is very convenient, but most readers still use email. If you’re not building your email list from day one, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. For email listing building tools and campaign management, I personally use Aweber and recommend you get in on that action as well.
  5. Failing to have a coach or someone on your team who specializes in new media: Let’s be real. You have a business to run. You’re not a SEO expert. You’re not a web designer. You’re not going to be. You don’t have time. Too many business owners try to do too much. Consult with someone from time to time. Get someone on your team, whether it’s an employee or a virtual assistant, a coach or whatever asset your most comfortable with, and use their expertise to make sure you’re being effective. Have them critique you and tell you where you can improve. Talk with someone whose job it is to stay on top of these things, and take their advice. You will be 100% more effective by not trying to do everything yourself.
  6. Focusing on design and SEO over content and communication: Everyone, especially business owners, want their site to look great. Yet look at some of the most successful blogs on the internet today, and not all of them look all that great. Why are they popular? How can you possibly create a winning online marketing plan without a $20k custom built website? Because believe it or not, all consumers really want is quality content. And they want it to come from you, because they care to know if you’re actually as cool as you want people to think you are. A glitzy website doesn’t impress many people any more. But quality, genuine content always will get the job done. What’s nice is that you can produce quality content for free. It just takes a little time and introspection. It’s highly worth it. Design is important, but content and quality interaction with your customers is WAY more valuable. It’s what your customers care about, so it’s what you should focus on.
  7. Spending too much time and money on marketing that doesn’t work: This one isn’t so much of an internet marketing thing as it is a business thing. So many of my friends in business are still locked into a mentality that they HAVE to pay for certain forms of marketing that they’ve always done in the past, even when they’re not pulling results anymore. On the flip side, I know some forward thinking business owners who have literally cut out their print advertising completely, and it has had NO negative effect on their business whatsoever. Obviously I’m not telling you specifically what to do with your specific business, but I urge you to look at the results your marketing is getting you. Are your customers flooding your websites, but meanwhile you’re still spending thousands a month on billboards and space ads? It happens a lot. If your advertising is not working, CUT IT! And put your money into your online business; it’s where your customers are most likely to find you anyway : )
  8. Not having fun: Fun is likely the most important element of this business. With all the options and tools at our disposal (blogs, websites, SEO, Twitter, Facebook, blah, blah, blah), it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But there’s an underlying opportunity here that most people seem to miss. You can do anything you want! You can literally make a great living doing anything you want, and as long as you’re willing to work like crazy you can do very well. Don’t become overwhelmed by your options; revel in them! Don’t be all stiff and proper with everything you do; have fun! With the amount of work that needs to be done, fun is mandatory. It also enables you to tackle the next step…
  9. Not diving in: There’s a lot of concern amongst business owners as to the value of Twitter, for example. I get a lot of comments regarding how it just doesn’t make sense. There is a reasonable concern over wasting time on something that is not going to produce results. Time is valuable, and that concern is prudent. However, things change quickly these days, and it’s important to act if you want to get results. Instead of using your lack of understanding as a gauge, I recommend using something else. Look at the value of the network. If there are millions of people all in one place, and the community is very active, there is a huge amount of value there, and it’s a good idea to tap into it. Dive in. Trust me, after you’ve spent some time conversing with people on Twitter (or any valuable community), it will make more sense. And so it goes with the internet in general, the biggest community of all. Being committed to getting results is key to actually getting results. Being tentative with your internet marketing endeavors will only ever produce tentative results. Don’t focus on what you don’t know. Yes, there are things to learn, but the most important thing is to dive in.
  10. Wanting results fast and automatically: I can’t blame anyone for wanting to get turnkey results from their internet marketing work. But it’s essential to measure your results properly. Measuring results from a blog or a social media profile in the same way that you measure results from a space ad you run in a magazine is not going to make you a happy camper. It doesn’t work the same way, and it doesn’t produce the same kind of results. Measure results using web analytics. Measure results via how many subscribers you’re getting and how many of them are buying from you. The details of this are certainly a topic for another post, but to suffice for now, don’t set up a blog and expect the orders to start pouring in automatically. Trust me, there are many points of data that you can use to keep your analytical mind more than pleased with the results you’re getting. Results are trackable using new media. But setting up a website and then sitting back and waiting for the money to start rolling in is going to lead only to disappointment.

Using new media is a little interesting…you basically cannot ignore this shift in the way of doing business. You really can’t. You have to learn to use these tools, and learning to use them is basically going to force you to rethink a lot about your business, how you measure results, etc.